


“Mummy And Daddy Are Fighting”

by mirandastylinson



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: 1k more of my life wasted away, Brothers, Fluff, M/M, Siblings, child!louis, i feel tags ruin the whole outlook of the one shot, i mean this is hardly a one shot its like 1k, its 3am bye, older!harry, ugh idk where this came from
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-16
Updated: 2013-02-16
Packaged: 2017-11-29 12:59:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/687235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mirandastylinson/pseuds/mirandastylinson
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The one where Louis is four and Harry is seventeen and their parents argue and are on the verge of divorce, and it’s all very fluffy and consists of lots of brotherly cuddles.</p>
            </blockquote>





	“Mummy And Daddy Are Fighting”

**Author's Note:**

> I don't really know where this came from..

“Ha-Harry?”

It’s pitch black in Harry’s room, the only light being from the dimly lit street lamps which is streaming through the closed curtains, and Louis hears a soft hum coming from his brothers bed. Harry knows exactly why Louis is here, the screaming of his parents arguing downstairs along with plates being thrown against the walls enough to wake up the entire neighbourhood, and he lets out a small sigh as he hears his four year old brother close the door behind him quietly. 

“Mummy and Daddy are fighting…” Louis mumbles, as if Harry couldn’t already hear them, clutching his toy rabbit tightly to his chest, scuffing his bare feet on the carpet, bottom lip jutting out.

Harry’s eyes are still closed, wishing his family could just be normal, needing a moment before taking on the responsibility of his brother yet again. It had become a normal thing now, that Louis clung onto Harry for support and attention while their parents argued constantly. Louis didn’t really know what was going on, why his Mummy and Daddy weren’t happy like they used to be, but he did know that he didn’t like it one bit.

When Harry didn’t reply, Louis took a few steps forward towards the bed in the far corner of the room; he could see the reflection of his brother’s bare torso illuminated by the soft light, and stood up on his tiptoes as he poked Harry’s arm. “Harry?” Louis repeated, desperate for his brother to notice him, his voice high and slightly louder.

Harry grunted, deciding that he should stop ignoring his brother, letting his eyes flutter open. Louis was peering up at him with big, bright blue eyes which seeped innocence, a small smile on his thin lips when he met Harry’s orbs. Dressed in the Power Rangers pyjamas Harry had put on him after his bath, Louis whined as he tried to reach up and pet his brother’s untameable curls but failed. Harry’s curls was one of Louis’ favourite things in the word, next to his Mum’s golden syrup pancakes (nothing could beat them, really).

“Harry,” Louis continued to whine, jumping up and down a little as he put his arms above his head to indicate he wanted Harry to lift him up, “can’t reach you.”

Shaking his head at Louis with a small smile playing on his lips, Harry pulled himself up and then his whimpering brother into his bed. Louis immediately grinned, planting a sloppy kiss on Harry’s lips (something he’d become accustomed to do after he saw, a while back, his parents exchange the gesture) and wrapped his arms around his torso. His small arms weren’t long enough to meet each other, but he tried his best to cuddle Harry as tightly as he could. Harry let his chin rest on top of Louis’ feathery hair, running his fingers lightly through it, letting one hand rub soothingly down his back.

They stayed like that for a while, until Louis let out a tired yawn and crawled off of Harry’s lap and under the duvet. “Will they stop soon?” Louis asked when Harry had joined him under the duvet, blinking up with only pure adoration at his brother, his nose brushing the skin on Harry’s collarbones. 

Harry wished he could tell Louis that they would, that everything would be back to normal by tomorrow, but he didn’t have the heart to lie to his younger brother who had no idea about the many things in life which were surely going to hurt him as he grew older – how much unavoidable evil there was in the world. Sighing, Harry held Louis closer to him and mumbled so quietly he wasn’t sure he even uttered the words, “I don’t know, Lou.”

~*~

It had become a routine, now, that every time their parents argued (which was nearly every night) that Louis would cuddle up to Harry. Harry was Louis’ hero, his protector when he cried, and he couldn’t ask for a better big brother. Harry didn’t mind anymore, only welcoming his brother with open arms. He was so used to bathing him every morning and night, dressing him, feeding him, reading to him, that Harry saw it as normal; he shouldn’t of felt like that, though, having the responsibility that a parent did at only seventeen, but Harry could only suck it up and dealt with it.

What else could he do? Louis needed him.

~*~

It wasn’t a shock when Mark and Anne finally broke up, everyone had excepted it sooner or later, and Harry held Louis close while his mum rolled her suitcase out of the door. Giving her two sons a final kiss, not letting them know (although Harry had already guessed) that she wouldn’t see them for a while, she drove away. 

Louis cried and cried, begged for his mum to come back, and all Harry could do was whisper encouraging things into his ear while his legs were wrapped around his waist – kiss away the pain. Mark was never around anymore, always busy at work, and Harry was the one who dropped Louis off at nursery every morning and picked him up when he finished school.

Louis sat in front of the television giggling at cartoons while Harry completed his homework on the couch, glancing towards his brother occasionally to make sure he hadn’t died when he became quiet. When Harry finished his school work, he held Louis on his hip and let him help cook dinner (which most of the time was pizza, although Harry vowed the two of them would begin to eat healthily soon) and made sure he was smothered in kisses. He wanted Louis to try and forget all the bad memories his young mind had been filled with from his parent’s divorce, wanting to fill them with happy ones of the two brothers, so he always went out of his way to make sure his brother was giggling and never upset.

~*~

It had been a year since Anne had left, Harry’s eighteenth birthday came and went, and he knew it was time to file for custody of Louis. His younger brother was five now, his parent’s long gone (Harry was positive Mark had forgotten he had two sons to take care of, and had left the country), and he felt it was only fair for Louis to have a secure guardian.

It took a few months for the permission, but custody was finally granted and Harry had never been so grateful for a piece of paper all his life.

~*~

It was an average Tuesday afternoon in the summer, and Harry had his legs propped up the coffee table watching television while Louis played with his cars on the carpet below.

“Daddy, I’m hungry.” Louis sighed, brows furrowed as he set a red car down on the floor, “can we make pizza?”

Harry’s attention was immediately drawn away from the mindless programme he was watching, brows furrowed as he tilted his head at his younger brother. He wasn’t sure he had heard Louis correctly, and nibbled on his lip as he ran a hand through his thick, dark brown curls. “What did you just say?”

Louis sighed dramatically, a toothy smile showing. “I said can we make pizza, Daddy! You’re so silly.”

Blinking, Harry cleared his throat and stood up from the sofa. “Yeah, sure, Lou…”

**Author's Note:**

> zouisstylinson.tumblr.com


End file.
